Desiree St. Aurieux
"Oh, no! I'd love to just climb into your big black van with the tinted windows, scary old woman I've never met before. Thing is, I'm not sure how my parole officer would feel about this." "I'll get you a new one." '' ''"You can do that?! Why didn't you start the conversation with ''that ''offer? We could be out of the state by now!" '' ''- Desiree & Irene Frederic '''Desiree Saint Aurieux '''is a former criminal recruited for Warehouse 13. Haunted by trouble for over two decades, she was still on parole when Mrs. Frederic hired her. While the offer seemed odd to her, Dez figured the only way she could go was up, so she accepted. Her tasks on the team, balancing field missions and tech support, somewhat resemble the ones of Claudia Donovan before her disappearance. Her usual partner for missions is Alexander Brandt. She's also become a mother figure to Alex's daughter, Cathy. Although she doesn't feel like she's the right role model for the girl (for several reasons, most lying in her troubled past), Desiree very much cares about her and tries everything she can to make Cathy happy. Desiree's Family Dez and her older half-brother, Ignace, were raised by their mother alone for many years. She took care of them as well as the circumstances allowed, and loved to teach them about their Creole roots. They didn't have much money, and their vacations never went further than New Orleans, but when she came home from work at 10 pm she always stopped by the kids' room to sing a lullaby or read a bedtime story to them. The relationship between Desiree and her brother was much more difficult. For young Ignace, the situation was clear: Dez was the reason their Mom had to work even more, was home even less. She was the child of a man that wasn't his father, which made it difficult for him to even accept her as his sister. He slowly realized that he was blaming her for things she couldn't possibly have affected as he grew up, but they never quite became best friends. Ignace had just turned 22 when their mother died. Desiree, on the other hand, was barely 14 years old, and so she was sent to live with her father. While he had known about his daughter's existence for quite a while, he never showed any interest in becoming a part of her life. With that in mind, Dez was far from thrilled about getting dropped off with him. She quickly realized that the one thing she inherited from the man was her admirable IQ, but he used it in a way she really didn't understand or approve of. Most of his wealth (which he never bothered to share with her mother, further breeding Desiree's bitterness) emerged from the weapons industry, and every time a bomb went off on the news, she couldn't help wondering if her emotionally stinted genius father built it. Past Dez was never a perfect child, although she really did try her best for her Mom. She got into trouble at school for showing up late to classes or without homework, or for saying things that weren't considered appropriate. A few times, the other kids even managed to tease her enough for her to get physical, but it was never anything too serious. She always bit her tongue until the principal was done with his speech, and then she apologized nicely, no matter if she started the trouble or not. She just didn't want to cause her mother any problems. It was after her Mom's death, during the first weeks she lived with her father, that she crossed the line she'd previously drawn for herself. She wasn't particularly fond of him, so she didn't care if he got visits from the police or uncomfortable questions from the press. In fact, it felt a bit like revenge, as most of her first little crimes had to do with his business. She snatched little things from his lab, messed with his equations and hacked his systems just to annoy him with it and remind him she hated what he did for a living. He always came up with something new to try and keep her out, and she'd always get through anyway. Eventually, he even pointed out that she could help him with her talents, but that only fed her rage and rebellion. At age 16, Desiree hacked her father's back account on the Cayman Islands and played Robin Hood with it. She sent much of his "blood money" to hospitals, orphanages and animal shelters, and some of it even traveled oversees into war zones he'd designed weapons for. Unsurprisingly, her father didn't show much understanding or sympathy for her actions. He figured six months in juvenile detention might "correct her path". After she was released, however, Dez refused to return to his house in Florida. Instead, she lived on the streets for a few months, stealing and lying to survive. Anything to stay under the radar. However, money soon became an issue. Since she technically never finished high school and was practically homeless, getting a job was very difficult. On one of her darkest days, Dez walked down a barely lit alley in Alabama when she heard a sound she recognized all too well. Gunfire. One shot, one scream. She ran towards the noise on auto pilot. At first, she saw the man. Two heads taller than herself, a gun in his right hand. Then the woman. A petite blonde, curled up on the dirty ground, both hands pressed against her abdomen. Desiree acted before she could truly think. She started towards the woman, and when the man grabbed her by the arm to stop her, she aimed a forceful punch at his nose and kicked his shin. (After all, it wasn't the first time she'd had to defend herself.) She reached the young woman and tried to assess the damage, but ultimately decided only a real doctor could help her. And only if it happened soon. Of course, the attacker wouldn't just let them leave. He grabbed Desiree from behind, but adrenaline can do a lot for a girl. She elbowed him in the groin as hard as she could, and then swiftly turned around to kick him backwards. He fell, and she jumped into action. Hugging the blonde to her side, she ran as fast as the circumstances allowed. They did make it to a doctor in the end, and the woman survived. As it turned out, her name was Kelsey, and she was incredibly grateful. She even let Dez move into her small apartment in downtown, as a "temporary solution, but please stay as long as you like". TBC Category:Characters Category:Females